Participants

When the Pentagon’s Guantanamo Bay Convening Authority authorized our Military Commission Observation Project (MCOP) to begin sending our representatives to Ft. Meade, Maryland and Guantanamo Bay to observe Military Commission hearings, decisions had to be made as to who would be eligible to be a MCOP representative. Discussions were held between and among various individuals, both inside and outside the Indiana University McKinney School of Law. The newly formed IU McKinney Ad Hoc MCOP Advisory Council also participated in these discussions. Ultimately, the decision was reached that all IU McKinney Affiliates would be eligible to participate in missions to Guantanamo Bay and Ft. Meade and that “IU McKinney Affiliates” be defined to include IU McKinney faculty, staff, students, and graduates.

Only IU Affiliates are eligible to register for consideration to serve as Military Commission Observers in Ft. Meade or Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. For those IU Affiliates interested in serving as a Military Commission Observer, information on upcoming observation dates is now available online on the PIHRL website. Observation opportunities are posted as soon as they become available. Individuals interested in becoming an Military Commission Observer are encouraged to check the site often as new observation opportunities are constantly updated.

George Edwards, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, May 2014 (confirmed), June 2014, July 2014, October 2014 (confirmed), February 2015 (confirmed), April 2015, multiple missions in 2016), January 2017 (confirmed), March 2017(confirmed)

George Edwards, Ft. Meade, Maryland, December 2013, February 2015, March 2015 (confirmed), July 2015, August 2015 (confirmed), August 2015 (confirmed), January 2016 (confirmed), February 2016, multiple missions in 2016, January 2017 (confirmed)

Endorsements

“While [at Guantanamo Bay] I was given a copy of the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual for U.S. Military Commissions. I read it cover to cover. This is simply required reading for anyone who goes [to Guantanamo Bay] to observe. Thank you for the enormous effort it must have taken to produce it.
[NGO Observer, 2014]

After reading the Guantanamo Bay Fair Trial Manual, "I feel a high calling to meet the obligations you note for an observer to report what they have observed.”
[NGO Observer, 2014]